Public works machines and particularly to buckets therefor

ABSTRACT

A Public Works machine includes a jib on which is pivotally mounted a balance beam carrying a bucket comprising a casing on which is pivoted a base, a pair of hydraulic jacks being coupled between the support and casing and the support and base respectively for controlling operation of the bucket, the balance beam and hydraulic jacks forming opposite parallel sides of three parallelograms.

United States Patent 9 Moreau 1 1 PUBLIC WORKS MACHINES AND PARTICULARLY TO BUCKETS THEREFOR [75] Inventor: Rene V. Moreau, Ermenonville,

France [73] Assignee: Societe Anonyme: Poclain, Oise,

France [22] Filed: June 19, 1974 [21] Appl. No: 480,869

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 28, 1973 France 73.23787 [52] 11.5. CI. 214/767; 37/184; 214/775 [51] Int. Cl .i EOZf 3/30 [58] Field of Search 214/146, 767, 769, 775,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,323,666 6/1967 Guinot 214/138 R June 10, 1975 3,737,059 6/1973 Peterson et a1. 37/184 3,767,070 10/1973 Arnold 214/146 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,634,731 5/1970 Gennany 37/184 Primary Examiner-Albert .1. Makay Assistant Examiner-Ross Weaver Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Fitzpatrick, Cella Harper & Scinto [57] ABSTRACT A Public Works machine includes a jib on which is pivotally mounted a balance beam carrying a bucket comprising a casing on which is pivoted a base, a pair of hydraulic jacks being coupled between the support and casing and the support and base respectively for controlling operation of the bucket, the balance beam and hydraulic jacks forming opposite parallel sides of three parallelograms.

8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PUBLIC WORKS MACHINES AND PARTICULARLY TO BUCKETS THEREFOR The present invention concerns improvements in and relating to Public Works machines and particularly to buckets therefor.

Various types of buckets are already known which have a movable base, being designed mainly for fitting to loaders.

According to the present invention there is provided a Public Works machine comprising:

a support;

a balance beam mounted on said support for pivotal movement about a first spindle;

a bucket which is mounted on said balance beam for pivotal movement about a second spindle and includes a casing, a base pivotable about a third spindle on said casing and a stop for limiting pivotal movement of said base relative to said casing;

a first hydraulic jack for positioning said casing relative to said support and which is coupled to said support by a first primary spindle and to said casing by a second primary spindle;

and a second hydraulic jack for positioning said base relative to said support and which is coupled to said support by a first secondary spindle and to said base by a second secondary spindle,

wherein said first and second spindles, said first and second primary spindles and said first and second secondary spindles are parallel and offset in respect of the common pivoting plane of said bucket and said balance beam, and the distances between said first spindle and said first primary spindle, said first spindle and said first secondary spindle, and said first primary spindle and said first secondary spindle are equal respectively to the distances between said second spindle and said second primary spindle, said second spindle and said second secondary spindle and said second primary spindle and said second secondary spindle.

The first spindle, first primary spindle and first secondary spindle may be substantially in line.

The second spindle, second primary spindle and second secondary spindle may be aligned in the configuration in which the base abuts the stop.

The first and second hydraulic jacks may be placeable in a configuration in which the distances between the first and second spindles, the first primary spindle and the second primary spindle, and the first secondary spindle and the second secondary spindle are equal.

The second secondary spindle may be coaxial with the third spindle.

The invention will be better understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof given, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a view in elevation ofa bucket hinged on the end of a balance beam of an embodiment of a Public Works machine according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a part sectional view along line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view of a hydraulic control circuit for manoeuvring the machine of FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate diagrammatically two special configurations of a machine according to the invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a balance beam 1 is pivotable about a spindle 3, called the first spindle, on one of the ends of a jib 2. A bucket 4 is itself pivotable about a spindle 5, called the second spindle, on balance beam 1. This bucket 4 comprises a casing 6 and a mov' able base 7, which is pivotable on casing 6 about a spindle 8, called the third spindle. A stop 9 for limiting the pivoting movement of the base 7 in relation to the casing 6 is fixed to this casing 6. As shown in FIGS. I and 2, base 7 rests against stop 9, while teeth I0 on the cats ing leading edge blade rest on ground ll parallel to its surface.

A first hydraulicjack 12 is coupled between jib 2 and casing 6 by spindles called the first primary spindle I3 and second primary spindle I4 respectively. As shown, spindles 8 and 14 are coaxial. A second hydraulic jack 15 is coupled between jib 2 and movable base 7 by spindles called the first secondary spindle I6 and the second secondary spindle 17 respectively. Finally, a hydraulic jack I8 is coupled between jib 2 and balance beam I, by means of two spindles, of which only one, spindle 19, on the balance beam 1 is visible.

It will be noted that:

the distances between spindles 3 and I3, 3 and I6 and I3 and 16 are equal respectively to the dis tances between spindles S and I4, 5 and 17 and I4 and I7;

spindles 3, I3 and 16 are substantially in line as are spindles 5, I4 and 17, at least in the configuration illustrated;

when the base 7 is resting against stop 9, a straight line 20, passing through the centres of spindles 3, l3 and 16, is parallel to a straight line 21 passing through the centres of spindles 5, I4 and 17; straight line 20 is parallel to ground surface ll. Three parallelograms are thus naturally formed from the geometry just described, the apices of which are the above-mentioned spindles; the parallelograms are bounded by spindles: 3 I3 l4 5, 3 I6 I7 5 and I3 l6 l7 14. It is noted that spindles 3, 5, 13, 14, l6, l7, 8 and 19 are parallel to each other.

FIG. 3 diagrammatically illustrates a simplified circuit suitable for the control of hydraulic jacks I2, 15 and 18. A pump 22 is connected by its suction pipe 24 to a fluid reservoir 23 and by its delivery pipe 25 to a first distributor 26. Distributor 26 is itself connected by pipes 27 and 28 to the two chambers of hydraulic jack I5, and by pipe 29 to a second distributor 30. The three positions of distributor 26 are as follows:

in the first position, pipe 27 communicates with pipe 29 and pipe 25 communicates with pipe 28;

in the second position, pipe 25 communicates with pipe 29 and pipes 27 and 28 are closed off inside distributor 26;

in the third position, pipe 25 communicates with pipe 27, and pipe 28 communicates with pipe 29. Distributor 30 is connected by pipes 31 and 32 to the two chambers of hydraulic jack l2, and by pipe 33 to a third distributor 34. The three positions of distributor 30 are as follows:

in the first position, pipe 31 communicates with pipe 33, and pipe 29 communicates with pipe 32;

in the second position, pipe 29 communicates with pipe 33 and pipes 31 and 32 are closed off insid: distributor 30;

in the third position, pipe 29 communicates with pipe 31, and pipe 32 communicates with pipe 33.

Distributor 34 is itself connected by pipes 35 and 36 to the two chambers of hydraulic jack l8 and by pipe 37 to reservoir 23. its three positions are as follows:

in the first position, pipe 33 communicates with pipe 35, and pipe 36 communicates with pipe 37:

in the second position, pipe 33 communicates with pipe 37. and pipes 35 and 36 are closed off inside distributor 34;

in the third position, pipe 33 communicates with pipe 36 and pipe 35 communicates with pipe 37.

A pipe 38 is tapped off delivery pipe 25. connecting the latter to reservoir 23, and a calibrated release valve 39 is included in this circuit 38. FIG. 3 corresponds to the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the distances between spindles l3 and 14, and 16 and 17 respectively are equal to the same value D.

Finally. two particular configurations of a machine similar to that of FIGS 1 and 2 are illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. Components similar to those already described are designated with the same numbers, followed by letter a in the case of FIG. 4, and letter b in the case of FIG. 5. Note that the two configurations illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 each correspond to a bucket emptying phase in which the base is pivoted relative to the casing.

It will be noted that in the configuration of FIG. 4 the separation of base 711 from casing 611 has been achieved by causing jacks 12a and 15a to extend by practically equal amounts by manipulating distributors 26 and 30. The movable base 7a has thus been moved in translation substantially parallel to itself. whereas, casing 6n has pivoted around spindle 5a as a result of the move ment of spindle 14a and of spindle 8a which is coaxial with it. As a result of this, teeth 10a on the casing are no longer pointing horizontally but vertically.

in FIG. 5. opposite manipulations of distributors 26 and 30 have caused jack 12b to extend and jack 15b to retract. Due to this, casing 6b and base 7b are recipro cally separated from each other. teeth 10!; on easing 6b being less inclined to the horizontal than teeth 10:: in FIG. 4. on the other hand base 7b is more inclined than base 7a.

ln both F108. 4 and 5, a gap is created between casing 60 (6b) and base 70 (7b). Spindles 5a, 14a and 17a, or 5b, Nb and 17b are no longer in line as spindles 5, l4 and 17 were in the configuration of FIGS, 1 and 2.

The above description of the operation of the machines will enable their speeific advantages to be appre ciated.

First of all it will be understood that the supply of hydraulic fluid under pressure to the large chamber in jack 18 (by manipulating distributor 34 into its third position), causes jack 18 to extned and, as a result, balance beam 1 pivots around spindle 3. The fact that spindles 3-13-14-5 and 3-16-17-5 are located at the apexes of two parallelograms enables bucket 4 to be moved in translation parallel to itself, when balance beam 1 moves at an angle in relation to jib 2. This method of operation is useful because teeth 10 are always correctly positioned in relation to the material to be loaded into the bucket.

This characteristic is also useful for levelling operations,

However, the many setting possibilities allowed by jacks l2 and 15 enable a previously filled bucket to be emptied, either by causing jacks 12a and 15a to extend simultaneously (FIG. 4), or by causing jack 12b to extend and j 15b to retract FIG. 5). It is easy to envisage other methods of operation.

There is thus provided a bucket with a movable base. whose construction, however, is more straightforward than known types of buckets and enables work to be carried out which the known types of buckets could not undertake, such for example as levelling.

What is claimed is:

l. A Public Works machine comprising:

a support.

a balance beam mounted on said support for pivotal movement about a first spindle;

a bucket which is mounted on said balance beam for pivotal movement about a second spindle and includes a casing, a base pivotable about a third spin dle on said casing and a stop for limiting pivotal movement of said base relative to said casing;

a first hydraulic jack for positioning said casing relative to said support and which is coupled to said support by a first primary spindle and to said casing by a second primary spindle;

and a second hydraulic jack for positioning said base relative to said support and which is coupled to said support by a first secondary spindle and to said base by a second secondary spindle;

wherein said first and second spindles. said first and second primary spindles and said first and second secondary spindles are parallel and offset in respect of the common pivoting plane of said bucket and said balance beam, and the distances between said first spindle and said first primary spindle, said first spindle and said first secondary spindle. and said first primary spindle and said first secondary spindle are equal respectively to the distances between said second spindle and said second primary spindle, said second spindle and said second secondary spindle and said second primary spindle and said second secondary spindle.

2. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said first spindle, said first primary spindle and said first secondary spindle are substantially in line.

3. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said second spindle, said second primary spindle and said second secondary spindle are in line when said base abuts said stop.

4. A machine according to claim I, wherein said first spindle, said first primary spindle and said first secon dary spindle are substantially in line, and said second spindle, said second primary spindle and said second secondary spindle are in line when said base abuts said stop,

5. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said first and second hydraulic jacks are able to be placed in a condition in which the distances between said first and second spindles, said first and second primary spindles and said first and second secondary spindles are equal.

6. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said first spindle, said first primary spindle and said first secondary spindle are substantially in line, and said first and second hydraulic jacks are able to be placed in a condition in which the distances between said first and second spindles, said first and second primary spindles and said first and second secondary spindles are equal.

7. A machine according to claim 6, wherein said second spindle, said second primary spindle and said second secondary spindle are in line when said base abuts said stop.

8. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said second primary spindle is coaxial with said third spindle. 

1. A Public Works machine comprising: a support; a balance beam mounted on said support for pivotal movement about a first spindle; a bucket which is mounted on said balance beam for pivotal movement about a second spindle and includes a casing, a base pivotable about a third spindle on said casing and a stop for limiting pivotal movement of said base relative to said casing; a first hydraulic jack for positioning said casing relative to said support and which is coupled to said support by a first primary spindle and to said casing by a second primary spindle; and a second hydraulic jack for positioning said base relative to said support and which is coupled to said support by a first secondaRy spindle and to said base by a second secondary spindle; wherein said first and second spindles, said first and second primary spindles and said first and second secondary spindles are parallel and offset in respect of the common pivoting plane of said bucket and said balance beam, and the distances between said first spindle and said first primary spindle, said first spindle and said first secondary spindle, and said first primary spindle and said first secondary spindle are equal respectively to the distances between said second spindle and said second primary spindle, said second spindle and said second secondary spindle and said second primary spindle and said second secondary spindle.
 2. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said first spindle, said first primary spindle and said first secondary spindle are substantially in line.
 3. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said second spindle, said second primary spindle and said second secondary spindle are in line when said base abuts said stop.
 4. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said first spindle, said first primary spindle and said first secondary spindle are substantially in line, and said second spindle, said second primary spindle and said second secondary spindle are in line when said base abuts said stop.
 5. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said first and second hydraulic jacks are able to be placed in a condition in which the distances between said first and second spindles, said first and second primary spindles and said first and second secondary spindles are equal.
 6. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said first spindle, said first primary spindle and said first secondary spindle are substantially in line, and said first and second hydraulic jacks are able to be placed in a condition in which the distances between said first and second spindles, said first and second primary spindles and said first and second secondary spindles are equal.
 7. A machine according to claim 6, wherein said second spindle, said second primary spindle and said second secondary spindle are in line when said base abuts said stop.
 8. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said second primary spindle is coaxial with said third spindle. 